Antibalas (Spanish for "bulletproof") is a Brooklyn-based afrobeat band that is modeled after Fela Kuti's Africa 70 band and Eddie Palmieri's Harlem River Drive Orchestra. Although their music uses afrobeat musical architecture and language, it incorporates elements of jazz, funk, dub, improvised music, and traditional drumming from Cuba and West Africa.
Founded in 1998 by Martín Perna as "Conjunto Antibalas", the group first performed on May 26, 1998 at St. Nicks Pub in Harlem at a poetry night organized ...